Spring-hinge.



No. 702,888. Pa tented lune l7, I902. W. A. SKINNEB.

SPRING HINGE.

(Application filed Mar. 7, 1902.)

(No Model.)

co. wom'uma. WIv$HXNGTON D. a

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

IVILLIAM A. SKINNER, OF GLOUCESTER CITY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALF TO IVILLIAM F. MACLENNAN, OF GLOUCESTER CITY, NEIV JERSEY.

SPRING-HINGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 702,888, dated June 17,1902.

Application filed March 7, 1902. Serial No. 97,096. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. SKINNER, a citizen of the United States,residing in Gloucester City, New Jersey, have invented certainImprovements in Spring-Hinges, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in hinges, and moreparticularly to an improved spring-hinge whose members normally tend toremain in relatively fixed positions, said members also tending toreturn to these positions whenever they have been moved therefrom.

The object of my invention is to provide a double-acting spring-hingewhich while being simple and reliable in action will not be complicatedor expensive in construction. This object I attain as hereinafter setforth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure1 is a plan view of one form of my improved hinge. Fig. 2 is a sectionalview taken on the line 2 2, Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a view of my improvedhinge, showing its free ends slightly modified in form to fit aretaining-piece bent to objects which it is desired to hinge together.

In the above drawings it will be seen that my improved hinge consists oftwo similar members A and A, and each of these may be described asconsisting of a single piece of wire or bar material of circular sectionbent at its middle, so as to form two halves a and a, each of thesehalves being bent back and over the respective portions a and a, so asto form two loops. Each of these loops is intermeshed with thecorresponding and similar loop of the second member of the hinge in themanner indicated in Fig. 1.

It is to be understood that the members of thehinge are made of springmaterial, so that the loops of each member may be moved toward or fromone another when the hinge is turned in operations The two loops of eachmember lie substantially in the same plane, and the ends a of the bar orwire of which the hingeis made may be formed into any desired shape forattachment to the door, lid, or other object which it is desired tohinge to a fixed support. In Fig. 1 the ends a are shown as flattenedand provided with countersunk screw-holes a while in Fig. 3 it will beseen that the ends are offset from the plane of the loops and the mainbody of the hinge proper, being designed to enter openings in smallcastings fixed to a door and its jamb. Where the loops of'one of themembers of the hinge engage or cross over those of the other, Ipreferably offset them, said offset portions serving to cause therespective loops to en-- gage one another and to prevent downward motionof the hinge member, upon which is carried the weight of a door,shutter, lid, &c. These offsets also prevent the two memhers from movingeither nearer together or farther apart under the influence of a sidestrain caused also by the weight of the object carried by one of themembers.

In operation when one of the members of the hinge is turned out of theplane of the other it will be seen that the upper loop of the part A,for instance, will ride upon the upper loop of the other member A,bending to tn rn the portion a inwardly. Similarly, also, the loop ofthe portion A slides .up on the lower loop of the member A, also forcingit inwardly, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, this action alsotending to separate the members CL and a of the part A. Owing to thespringynature of the material from which the hinge is made, both thehalves a and ct of each member tend to return to their originalpositions, and, further, since the opposing force is removed the memberwhich has been turned immediately revolves to its original positionthatis, into substantially the plane of the fixed member of the hinge.Should the employed member A be turned in the opposite direction, theaction of its two loops upon the corresponding loops of the fixed memberis the opposite from that shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the effectofthe springiness of the material being the same, however, and alwaystending to restore the movable member to the plane of the fixed member.

In the drawings herewith I have illustrated the simplest form of myimproved hinge, although it will be understood that it may be modifiedas regards the shape and relation of the parts a and a to each other, aswell as ICC the form and position of the ends (5*, without materiallydeparting from the essential features of my invention.

I claim as my invention 1. A spring-hinge having two members, each ofthe same consisting of a piece of material formed with a pluralityofloops, the loops of one member being in engagement with the loops of theother, substantially as described.

2. A spring-hinge consisting of two members each made of a p'iece'ofmaterial bent to form a plurality of loops, the loops of each memberbeing in engagement with those of the other and having curved portionsat their points of engagement, said portions being offset and therebyretaining the members of the hinge in proper operative relation to oneanother, substantially as described.

3. A spring-hinge consisting of two similar members each made of a pieceof flexible material bent to form a plurality of loops, said loops lyingin substantially the same plane, the loops of each member being meshedwith those of the other and each pair of intermeshed loops being free tomove toward or from each other when one of the members is moved from itsnormal position, substantially as described.

4. A spring-hinge consisting of two similar members, each of saidmembers consisting of a single piece of flexible material bent at itsmiddle portion so that its two halves extend atan angle to one another,the ends of each of these halves being curved toward each other and backso as to form two loops, the loops of each member being intermeshed withthe corresponding loops of the other member, substantially as described.v

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this application in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM A. SKINNER.

lVitnesses:

ROY RAUDENBUSH, Jos. H. KLEIN.

